'Our employees are the ultimate ambassadors'

While attending the Hotel Management School in Maastricht, she found herself doing a work placement in the Recruitment department at HMSHost. That placement led to a job as an HR employee with the company. After that position, she made a brief venture into the hotel sector, only to resume work for HMSHost as a corporate recruiter. She had missed both HR work and HMSHost itself.

‘It's my job to ensure HMSHost's continued visibility as an employer, as well as to facilitate a smooth recruitment process within the organisation,’ Melissa explains. ‘We are growing extremely rapidly and it's peak season at Schiphol. That means lots of job vacancies and a highly dynamic setting. Café Chocolat, Bubbles Seafood & Wine Bar, Mediterranean Sandwich Bar and Starbucks are a few of the well-known brands that we carry at Schiphol. We are part of the Italian-owned Autogrill and – in addition to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Rotterdam The Hague Airport – we also run various restaurant concepts at numerous railway stations and shopping centres in the Netherlands. We offer our employees all kinds of options. They can take their pick of working hours, types of shifts and numerous locations. Despite the size of the organisation, there is plenty of attention paid to individuals as well. Everything which we do demonstrates that our company has the right spirit: the cooperation between departments is really good, personal development is a priority and we try to retain our colleagues – and keep them mentally engaged – through training programmes and courses, among other things. A strong focus on the individual, in combination with team-building: that's the lifeblood of HMSHost.’

‘The principle of referral is working really well for us. We ask employees to invite their friends and acquaintances to apply for jobs with us and we reward our employees when they do so. To recruit others, you have to be genuinely enthusiastic about where you work. That’s why our employees are the ultimate ambassadors. The same applies to me personally with regard to SPOT, the community of people who work at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. I became a SPOT ambassador because I truly believe in the power of cooperation at a fantastic, international location such as Schiphol. I enjoy it immensely. It’s a powerful thing to pass opportunities on to one another. In many ways, Schiphol resembles a special village. I'd like to tell everyone who works here: take advantage of the network and put it to use for you or your company. As for myself, I definitely do and I'm excited about the potential of the SPOT platform and the events that it's organising. And I'm not the only one, either. SPOT is growing quickly; we already have almost 1,500 members!’